April 2, 2003
Complete Women's Tennis Release in PDF Format
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ON TAP: The 12th-ranked Arizona State women's tennis team (8-5, 1-2 Pac-10) continues their five match road swing as they head to Seattle to take on ninth-ranked Washington (12-3, 1-2 Pac-10), Friday, April 4 at 12:00 p.m. The Devils will then head across the state to Pullman to face Washington State (7-8, 0-3 Pac-10) on Saturday, April 5 at 12:00 p.m. Both duals will count towards the Pac-10 standings.
LAST TIME OUT: The Devils dropped both duals to the LA schools both by 6-1 scores. Against UCLA, the lone point for ASU came from Megan Yeats, who earned her first dual win of the year as she claimed victory on the No. 6 court over Shilpa Joshi 6-4, 6-1. Against the top-ranked Trojans, ASU fought hard as three of the six singles matches were played into three sets. But Mhairi Brown was the lone Devil to walk away with a victory against Maureen Diaz in a fierce three-set tiebreaker match, 6-7, 6-3, 15-13.
HEAD COACH SHEILA McINERNEY: Enters her 19th season at the helm of the ASU program after leading her team to a NCAA Round of 16 appearance and a No. 9 national ranking in 2002. McInerney has also guided ASU to eight quarterfinal appearances in her tenure, and has made the NCAA tournament in 17 of her 18 seasons. McInerney was also selected as the head coach of the 2001-2002 USA Tennis Collegiate team. In 1997, McInerney was honored as the ITA National Coach of the Year after guiding the Sun Devils to a 15-7 record and a No. 7 national ranking. She also garnered 1997 Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year honors and is a three time (1988, '90, '01) West Region ITA Coach of the Year. McInerney, who owns a career record of 298-173 (.633), posted three 20-win seasons (1986, '90, '01) and has guided the Devils to 15 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. ASU has finished in the top-10 in five of the past six seasons and 13 times in her 18 seasons. McInerney has tutored 23 All-Americans and 13 different all-conference players.
BIG NUMBERS: Senior and three-time All-American Adria Engel will look to become Arizona State's second four-time All-American selection (Reka Cseresnyes 1995-98). After capturing ASU's first Pac-10 singles title (male/female) as a sophomore, Engel is also seeking to become the school's all-time leader in wins. She is currently 19-10 and holds a career record of 120-43 (.736).
DEVILS IN THE RANKINGS: As a team, Arizona State is No. 12 in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA. In singles, Adria Engel is No. 16 and Dora Krstulovic comes in at No. 48. In doubles, Engel and Colaillo are No. 47, while Engel and Krstulovic are at No. 52 and Brown and Cindy Sureephong check in at No. 53.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH: Once again the Devils will face a strong non-conference slate along with the always powerful Pac-10 Conference. Thirteen ASU opponents earned NCAA bids last year, while nine of ASU's opponents are ranked in the top-25. The Pac-10 comprises five of the nation's top-10 teams and seven of the nine Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top-25.